These new images are just in this afternoon thanks to Mathew Haslam of Hardscape – as their skilled stone specialists focus on the applied detail. Water jet cutting, inlaying, sandblasting and laser etching their way through 15 bespoke units destined to be embedded into the landscape of the new housing development at Rochester Riverside for client Countryside.This highly bespoke work needs to be handled with care and demands high levels of craft skills.

Hardscape have been excellent at providing this form creative collaboration. Public Art Strategy & Artists Commissions by FrancisKnight .

Below: This unit is 9 of 15 – ‘SHELDUCK’, a Kobra Green Granite base slab with water jet cut inset motif & text in black Carlow Limestone, which has been laser etched with surface detail. Further sandblasting of text into the green granite, will complete the work.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew HaslamHardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew HaslamHardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: The almost completed ‘WILLIAM CORY & SON LTD’.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: This is the base slab of black Carlow Limestone, which has been laser etched first & then water jet cut – but the large letter ‘W’, the ‘&’ and the diamond motif have yet to be chiselled out. See Below –

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: The water jet cutting removes a series of lines from the granite, which are determined by the CAD programme, which creates the cutting paths. These pathways are interesting in themselves as patterns, but in this instance they have to be chiselled out carefully by hand, to create the void space for the granite inlay to be fixed.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: This images shows the void spaces chiselled out from the Carlow Limestone. The letter ‘W’ in Maple Red granite has already been inset and is awaiting bonding in place – the diamond motif is just about to be inset. These images are wonderful for showing process, craft and the mix of skills from CAD technology to work by hand & eye.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew HaslamHardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew HaslamHardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew HaslamHardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

In June 2019 I was issued with early draft plans for the public realm proposals at the Station by LDS Architects on behalf of Winchester City Council. I proposed to add a layer of creative interpretation to these plans, based on my contextual research and employ the setting out details within the LDS plan as a secure foundation into which I could set my public art concept drafts. My proposal was always going to be about utilising the need for paving, seating, retaining walls and other practical details of public realm highways engineering to keep visual clutter at a minimum. This would also be more economic in terms of budget use and future management and maintenance.

Above: The Station building is on the left of this plan drawing (as seen from above). The plan for the public realm is primarily a sequence of parallel horizontal bands (green) delineated in the paving, which flow downhill from the Station towards City Road and another series which flow uphill along Station Road. However, this baseline geometry is combined with a radial pattern (also in green) which expresses the radius curve in the highway as it transitions from Station Road to Station Hill. This radial pattern provides the anchor for a series of seats (red) and secondary barrier structures (blue). These are concept ideas only – and not designs.

Above: This concept study shows a series of interrelated structures – which could be seating, walls, barrier structures or paving – set out in a radial pattern. These forms are presented as interpretive devices which exhibit combinations of materials and motifs, which seen together in this way embody ideas and responses developed from the contextual research I have undertaken.

Above: The Winchester Bible is regarded as the largest & finest 12th century Illuminated Manuscript. The script is by the hand of a single monk scribe from Winchester. However, the magnificent illuminations were often drawn and painted by itinerant artists – lay professionals who travelled between monasteries and centres of learning. These Illuminated Initials have been inspirational, as has the Morley Library, of which the Winchester Bible is a part. Bishop George Morley bequeathed his collection of rare books to the Cathedral in the 17th Century. His collection is also monogrammed.

Draft artwork playing with text & the texture and pattern of knapped flint. Image: Christopher TippingDraft artwork playing with text as illuminated initials & the texture and pattern of knapped flint. Image: Christopher TippingDraft artworks playing with text as illuminated initials & the texture and pattern of Winchester building materials. Image: Christopher Tipping

Sandstone is a primary building stone of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingThere is one sample of Swedish Marble in Winchester Cathedral. A Ledger Stone for the daughter of Sir John Clobery. Image: Christopher Tipping

“Of particular interest is the ledger stone (memorial) of Francisca Clobery, the daughter of Sir John Clobery. She died in 1683 and her grave is in the south aisle of the Retrochoir, in front of her father’s monument. It is of a distinctive Ordovician limestone (around 465 million years ago) from the Island of Öland, Sweden, containing the straight-shelled Nautiloid.” from ‘Winchester Stone’ by Dr John Parker 2016. ‘John Parker studied geology at Birmingham and Cambridge universities. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. For over 30 years he worked as an exploration geologist for Shell around the world. He has lived in Winchester since 1987. On retirement he trained to be a Cathedral guide’. John has personally shown me around the Cathedral and pointed out many geologic wonders and quirks.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

I hope to investigate manufacturing processes which allow stone to be cut, laminated, decorated and finished in a manner which embodies the richness of the Cathedral interiors and it’s ongoing repair and regeneration – BUT – in a functional manner, either as seating etc or as a method of improving wayfinding for visitors.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingConcept & creative interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher TippingConcept & creative interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping

Station Hill leads up to Winchester Train Station from the busy junction of Stockbridge Road, City Road, Andover Road and Sussex Street. Swan Lane also joins here. The site has been historically known as Carfax, meaning the meeting of roads. The Carfax Hotel, formerly on the site now occupied by the Hampshire Records Office took its name from this historic site. The Masterplan proposals for this whole site, developed by Winchester City Council’s Consultants Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Architects, is referred to as the Carfax Site. and incorporates the Station Approaches & public realm.

Station Hill today doesn’t give much away about it’s local community or life as a lively neighbourhood, but this wasn’t always the case.

I will try to add to this post throughout the project as new research throws up characters and stories.

A page referencing the history and standing of Station Hill, the Train Station and environs taken from the Cultural Heritage Assessment for Station Approach, Winchester, by Elaine Milton, Heritage and Planning. Winchester City Council 2015 Station Hill, Winchester. Warren’s Street Directory 1890 – Ref: H 042.27. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies, Sussex Street, Winchester.

Above: Warren’s Street Directories, held in the Hampshire Records Office on our doorstep, lists street by street, almost everyone who lived at each residential property. If this was a business, then it lists the nature of the business, as well as the people who owned it. A wonderful archive. The books also contain the most interesting advertising for local products and services, mostly & brilliantly illustrated.

The Train Station is seen above in the bottom left quadrant. Roger Brown’s model was based on the OS Map of 1873. Roger had been a Planning Officer for Winchester City Council.

Some key building are still extant , such as the Station and the South Western Inn, formerly the Railway Refreshment Inn – & up until 2015, Winchester Register Office. The Carfax Hotel is visible on the junction of Station Hill & Sussex Street. The terraced houses of Gladstone Street are there too, but the Reservoirs of the Sussex Brewery, seen on the OS Map of 1870 now appear to be allotment gardens. Needs a bit more investigating to discover what the reservoirs were for. I can’t find any reference to the Sussex Brewery.

The original Railway Refreshment Inn opposite the Station, was up until 2015 the Winchester Register Office at No.6 Station Hill. Image: Christopher TippingRoger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

Above: A bit blurry…but nonetheless the Station and Public House are clearly shown. A narrow footpath leads to Sussex House just beyond the Station in this image. A lovely circular garden feature can also be seen just left of the Station forecourt behind a fence. I wonder if this was a public or private space?

Above; At centre is the Carfax Hotel building on Station Hill and Sussex Street. This important crossroads, (or Carfax), shows a complex junction of City Road, Swan Lane, Station Hill, Andover Road and Sussex Street. Looking rather genteel – and not the complicated crossing for pedestrians we experience today.

By 1970, the Carfax Hotel, first named in 1918, had fallen into disrepair during the 1960’s. It had been taken over by the King Alfred Teacher Training College as student accommodation. However, it was demolished in 1972 as part of a road improvement scheme.

A short post on patterns of paving, used externally in the City streets. These images are a simple & straightforward record of paving and materials used in highway engineering and the public realm in Winchester. What I am interested in is the variation and the happenstance, which occurs between pattern, materials and textures. The ordinary and mundane, boring ?…no ! Some richness and patterns emerge, often as a result of repair & regeneration. Interesting to note changes at thresholds and edges. Old and new side by side. They are perhaps not the most exciting of images – but for those of you who look down to see & care about what you are walking on – you too may also see something that inspires you, as I have been inspired.

The image above is a detail of the beautifully carved ebony black polished stone 12th Century font, with its depiction of the miracles of St Nicholas. It is without doubt one of the Cathedral’s greatest treasures. It was brought from Tournai, in modern day Belgium. It has been in use ever since. It is astonishingly fresh and wonderful.

The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

It isn’t too hard to find odd and quirky combinations of both mundane & exotic materials and examples of spectacular & naive decorative arts and crafts side by side in Winchester, especially in the Cathedral. Almost one thousand years of continual occupation of this religious site bears witness to an unbroken architectural legacy, one that is brimful of odd juxtapositions, exotic materials, renewed or replaced fabric, scratched graffiti, vandalism and destruction. Like walking through a time-warp. Robust Norman Romanesque Architecture to Perpendicular Gothic in one step. Swedish Marble to Purbeck Stone in another. Extant 13th Century inlaid ceramic floor tiles to 1960’s replicas. Striking thresholds crossed mixing time and material, yet the experience is not jarring or disjointed. Time itself has softened these transitions and blurred the edges.

I am continually cherry picking from the world around me, plucking at things, tucking things away for later – like a squirrel, gathering nuts for winter or in the manner of a herbivore, continually grazing, & chewing the cud. I am gathering visual information – an extraordinary cabinet of curiosity in my mind. Certain things catch my attention, whilst others pass me by. This eclectic meander is not a considered or deliberate creative manoeuvre. It is innate. It is my pattern of speech, it is my handwriting. It simply is.

A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping

The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher TippingAn abstract mash-up of the decorative building materials & styles of Winchester mixed with my own ‘Winchester inspired’ patterns. Image: Christopher TippingThe building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher TippingThe building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingThe building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingAbstract drawings based on knapped flints, one of the building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingAbstract drawings based on knapped flints, one of the building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingA mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher TippingThe building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingThe building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher TippingAn abstract mash-up of the decorative building materials & styles of Winchester mixed with my own ‘Winchester inspired’ patterns. Image: Christopher TippingA mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping

These images are hot off the press, as skilled stone specialists at Hardscape focus on the applied detail. Water jet cutting, inlaying, sandblasting and laser etching their way through 15 bespoke units destined to be embedded into the landscape of the new housing development at Rochester Riverside for client Countryside Properties. This work needs to be handled with care and demands high levels of craft skills. Hardscape have been excellent at providing creative collaboration .

Above: This is the ‘&’ from ‘WALRUS & NELLIE’. Water jet cut into a slab of Red Shiraz Granite 900mm x 300mm x75mm. It is awaiting the inlaying of the circle of yellow Amarelo Real Granite. It looks amazing. WALRUS & NELLIE were the names of two portable aggregate conveyors loading stone and cobbles on and off barges at Cory’s Wharf, Blue Boar Hard.

Above: This is the laser etched ‘DUNLIN A SALTMARSH BIRD’, , waiting to be water jet cut from its slab of beautiful Carlow Limestone & inset into a slab of red granite. See image below, where the DUNLIN has been partially cut out from the block in concentric linear patterns. This is a complex unit, with other letters inlaid. Precision is key. These beautifully crafted objects embedded in the landscape, will be a gentle reminder of the natural, social and industrial history of the site.

The laser etched image of the Shelduck will now be water jet cut out of the Carlow slab and the motif inlaid into a slab of Kobra Green Granite, which has the shape of the bird already cut into the surface.

Interesting to note also that the Carlow Limestone has beautiful fossil shells embedded. Also note that these are not my feet, they probably belong to Pedro, who is overseeing and also working on my project. Without skilled people like this, I would be lost !

Always a relief to see projects get to this stage ! The printing has started ! Swift Signs in Weymouth are now in production of the glazing vinyl artworks for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit. Install is scheduled for next week. Watch this space !

Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs

Have you ever thought what is up there, caught between the vaulted ceiling and the external roof? It was this hidden void in the attic, described as ‘a forest‘ , which so disastrously burned at Notre Dame in April this year. On Wednesday 19th June this year I ventured up the Tower of Winchester Cathedral to reach the same space. I have really wanted to venture into this cavernous space – between the 14th & 15th Century vaulted nave we see in the image above and the original massive timbered roof for years. This complex structure is what pilgrims and locals would have seen & looked up into prior to the nave being constructed. It is the most amazing floating world – a dark void – a medieval secret.

Above: This is the timber walkway inside the void space, which sits atop the massive oak beams which cross the nave . The walkway disappears into the bell tower and Norman part of the Cathedral. Images do not do this space justice! This is the longest Medieval Cathedral nave in Europe. The Lierne Vaulted ceiling of the nave lies just below the cross beam timbers.

Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingHuman touches in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. There is a story to this image, but
I have forgotten it ! Image: Christopher TippingHuman touches – centuries of scratched graffiti decorate the stone window tracery in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher TippingHuman touches – centuries of scratched graffiti decorate the stone window tracery in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher TippingIt got in but didn’t get out. Racing Pigeon in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher TippingMassive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingThe bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingDetails in the bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingDetails in the bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

‘The cathedral possesses the only diatonic ring of fourteen church bells in the world. The back twelve were all cast by John Taylor & Co in 1937. They were augmented to fourteen when two new bells were added in 1992 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. ‘One bell was cast by Anthony Bond, an itinerant Founder in 1621.’ Wikipedia Ref

Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingUp in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingUp in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingUp in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This image shows Norman stone carving high up in the Bell Tower. Quite amazing to get so close to it. The stonemason’s tool marks so fresh still.

Interesting patches and and repairs to the lead sheeting up on the roof of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher TippingUp on the roof – the views are pretty spectacular. Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Here are a few images of the final artworks – it may help to know that any white used in the design does not print – and remains completely clear – bringing the outside in and extending the impact of the work to the external landscape beyond the clinical spaces. The colours also vary in transparency and opacity, so do not appear anywhere near as flat and opaque as they do in the artwork – which is a good thing right? I thinks so…

The top and bottom screen elevations work together as two adjacent spaces, where the designs overlap. Anything printed white here is actually completely clear and does not print. so you could imagine these two images combining with the external landscape.

Mid-September and it was up to Hardscape, Bolton to see progress on the manufacture of the bespoke inlaid granite paving units. As ever, the works are of a really high quality and Hardscape are always keen to progress & test their creative collaborations.

15 granite units are in production. These vary in size from 1200mm x 400mm x 75mm to 900mm x 300mm x 75mm and are destined to be installed at the thresholds to housing & apartment blocks at Rochester.